Major players in Wokingham’s football circle have spoken out against abuse on the sidelines after police were called to a youth match when a parent began swearing at the referee.

An off-duty PCSO called Wokingham police to Cantley Park in Twyford Road after becoming concerned when a parent began shouting and swearing at the referee during the match on Saturday, March 19.

Police arrived at around midday and spoke to the parent before staying in the area to prevent a breach of the peace.

It is not known which club the parent was affiliated to but key footballing figures in the area have slammed the aggressive behaviour.

Deborah Wyatt, from Woodley, was appointed the first grassroots Respect ambassador for the Football Association (FA) in 2009.

She said she could not comment on specific incidents but that any abuse was unacceptable.

Ms Wyatt, who has spoken to more than 138,000 people since being appointed as the Respect ambassador, first became involved in the campaign when her son and his teammates were verbally abused by a parent after a football match.

She has since toured the country giving guidance to amateur and professional clubs about conduct on the pitch.

She said: “In terms of the message given in the Respect programme it is a little bit sorry when we have to get local police to come and deal with pitchside behaviour.

“A referee will and does own the game and he has a rulebook which is full of the laws of the game. If something happens on the pitch he can control that with red and yellow cards.

“If you have respect then hopefully you will have a fair game. My passion pushed me forward to get involved in the campaign and I thought, ‘how many kids are suffering on the pitch just wanting to play the game?’”

Ms Wyatt, who is welfare officer for Bracknell Cavaliers and supports the East Berkshire Youth League, has also spoken to Championship clubs including Reading FC, advising them on the respect campaign.

Under the campaign clubs agree to abide by a code of conduct with sanctions in place if they violate the terms.

Parents are also encouraged to stand a metre away from the sidelines at youth matches to prevent them from getting too close to the pitch.

Mark Ashwell, chairman of Wokingham and Emmbrook Football Club, said he was unaware of the specific incident but said any abuse at matches was unacceptable.

Wokingham and Emmbrook FC is signed up to the Respect campaign and Mr Ashwell said there is a zero tolerance approach to abuse on or off the pitch.

He said: “We are an FA charter club and within that there are guidelines that we follow. There is a physical line that parents stand behind and we have a zero tolerance policy for parents and players. It’s part of the FA Respect campaign.

“It is something that happens in some places and we are self-policing, looking at it all the time to make sure it doesn’t happen.

“I welcome the PCSO for stepping in. We need people to step forward both in the football clubs and out of it.”